The Road To Tokyo 2020
When it became official that baseball would be coming back to the olympics never in my wildest dreams did I think my husband would be asked to play in the baseball games that decides which countries will be heading to Tokyo for the 2020 Olympics to compete for the title, the best baseball team in the world. A couple years ago Rob was invited to represent Team Canada to play in the 2017 World Baseball Classic and unfortunately he had to turn down the offer due to pitching 135 innings in the 2016 season. He was so bummed but it just wasn’t in his best interest that year to go throw after having a really long season with the Cubs. So, when Team Canada called back in September offering him the opportunity to represent his home country in the Premier 12 WBSC to qualify for the 2020 Olympics he knew it was an automatic “YES” if the Dodgers could clear him to play in it. All fell into place and here we are now. Less than 1 week away from the opening rounds taking place in Seoul, Korea.
The Breakdown
From what I have read and researched here is how the tournament is working and how it will be narrowed down to the top two countries going to the 2020 Olympics. For the opening round taking place, November 2-8, there will 12 competing nations that are split in three groups of four and they will round robin to decide the top two nations from each group. Group A is USA, Mexico, Netherlands, and the Dominican taking place in Mexico. Group B is Chinese Taipei, Venezuela, Japan, and Puerto Rico taking place in Taiwan. Lastly, is Group C which consist of Canada, Korea, Cuba, and Australia taking place in Seoul, Korea. From here the two top teams in each group will advance to the Super Round Games in Tokyo, Japan taking place November 11-16. Then, from that six-team round robin, the two top teams will play in the championship game and the third and fourth place ranked teams will play for bronze. The winners of these games decide which two nations will go on to compete in the 2020 Olympics.
In March 2020 there will be two more opportunities to compete for a slot in the 2020 Olympics. One team will qualify through the Americas Continental Tournament in Arizona and the other spot will be decided in a world qualification tournament in Chinese Taipei.
Team Canada’s Schedule and Games Rob Is In Pitching In
Exhibition Games:
- Canada v Japan October 31 at 19:00 (7:00 PM) JPT, which is 5:00 AM CST.
- Canada v Japan November 1 at 19:00 (7:00 PM) JPT, 5:00 AM CST. ***Rob will be pitching in this game.
- Canada v Industrial Yushu All-Stars November 3 at 1:00 PM JST, which is 11:00 PM CST.
Opening Round in Seoul:
- Canada v Cuba November 6 at 12:00 PM JST, which is 10:00 PM CST.
- Korea v Canada November 7 at 7 PM JST, 5 AM CST. ***Rob is pitching in this game.
- Canada v. Australia November 8 at 12:00 PM JST, 10:00 PM CST.
From here if they are one of the top two teams they will advance and fly out to Tokyo, Japan to play in the Super Round. SOOO if you are able to cheer on Team Canada and Rob the games he is pitching in, then THANK YOU in advance if not their will be highlights from each game that you guys can catch up on. All games and highlights for the Premier 12 WBSC will be live streamed on their Youtube Channel and all information/news will be posted on their website.
Rooting for Canada ALL THE WAY as they go for GOLD or at least punch their ticket to the 2020 Olympics.
Links:
- Live Stream Games: WBSC Youtube Channel
- Brackets
- Schedule and Results
- Premier 12 WBSC Homepage
- Team Canada Instagram
- Team Canada Twitter
- WBSC Instagram
- WBSC Twitter
Xo Natalie Z
Leave a Reply